Press releases | Archive 2008

RBC to introduce Russia's first social network for children

Moscow, April 17, 2008 - OAO RBC Information Systems (MICEX, RTS: RBCI) ) has entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with Tweegee company for the launching of the Russian version of the leading children's social network tipo.co.il in Israel. The total amount of investments that RBC is planning to make in this project will reach about $6m.

Tweegee has unique expertise in the development of social networking platforms for children. It is one of the world's leading companies in the niche and a company number one in Israel. For example, at the moment, more than 80% of Israeli children aged between 8 and 14 are visiting tipo.co.il on a regular basis. The website features a unique environment for children to communicate with one another and is perfect for child development and safety. Its users are offered unique multiplayer online games, great tools for communication, blogging and video blogging, searches for new friends with the same interests, a huge storage place for pictures and videos and possibilities to create virtual worlds. Special tools developed for children's use make it easy for a child to create his or her own website. Last year, tipo.co.il users created over 870,000 personal websites.

"RBC is certainly interested in the child audience," said General Director of RBC Media Artyom Inutin commenting on the deal. "RBC boasts a whole range of successful projects in its portfolio meeting the demands of both the adult and the younger audience. This new deal is a natural step forward and we will now focus on products targeted at children. For us, this will mean more new users who will attract new advertisers. At the moment, millions of children in Russia use the Internet at home and in schools, and this number is constantly growing. The niche for children's online projects is currently vacant and therefore by using the extensive experience of our partner Tweegee, we will introduce a product that will set a very high standard in this sector. This is very important as we must offer the highest quality to the child audience."

"We have more than four years of experience with that unique and amazing audience; we are bringing new approach and point of view for this fast growing audience that in the end is leading the uses of web 2.0," said Tweegee Chairman Yohai Rayfeld. "The technology for deploying children's social networks has been tested in Israel, a high-tech country where most children have broadband access. We have developed tools to maximize children's creative potential and a safe Internet environment that meets parents' expectations. The next stage for Tweegee will be an international network of children's portals. We are currently preparing the launch of tweegee.com, a social networking for the USA kids. Our website took us to a top spot among children's online projects in Israel, and we are now set to take a leading position on the Russian market as well in collaboration with our partner RBC."